May 30, 2007

I admit I haven't searched the web for similar sites, but someone just brought to my attention a no non-sense look at what life is like post graduation for Acupuncturists. Lisa Hanfileti, LAc, MAcOM, an OCOM grad, started a website designed with this in mind:

"The question is, how does an aspiring acupuncturist, who has little experience (and even less interest) in the business world, open a successful acupuncture practice? Eight years ago I was asking myself that question. And avoiding a whole bunch of other questions. I just did not have an inclination for business and resisted the whole notion of practice management and marketing. I often wished I had a real-life acupuncturist who had "been there, done that" to guide me along the way. Insights-For-Acupuncturists is an answer to that wish." - Link

If you're a business person you would read this and be like "Of course that's what you should do." But we Acupuncturists aren't that so if you're about to graduate or thinking ahead, take a quick read and keep all of this in your head when moving forward.

May 25, 2007

Hinchey Bill Moving Forward for the First Time

H.R.1479 is the latest edition of the Hinchey Bill. This is the bill that would mandate Acupuncture coverage for both Medicare and the Federal Employee Benefits Plan. As I stated back in November, and have now been vindicated, voting for Democrats to take over the House and Senate was the only way to get this bill passed. For the first time since 1993 it is now actually moving to committees. Though it only has 12 cosponsors, it has the greatest chance of getting passed over the next 18 months that ever before. Thomas Link

I will not lie, I have mixed feelings on this bill. On the one hand, my busy, cash based practice may well go the way of many chiropractors' who have either packed up or refused to take insurance as every year their reimbursements sink further and further. On the other, if we really wanted Acupuncture to be a true complimentary medicine, accessible to not just the higher socio-economic class, this would be the way. Additionally, this would be our "in" to every hospital in the country. It would be ten times easier to convince hospital administrators to allow staff Acupuncturists to do rounds and work on in-patients.

Additionally, all those "Community Acupuncture" clinics popping up across the country would be defunct in my mind cause REAL community Acupuncture would be done by a societally funded healthcare...aka...Medicare.

May 03, 2007

Ugandan Medics Trained in Acupuncture by the Pan Africa Project

My old clinic supervisor Rich Mandell just got a good write up on allafrica.com for his fantastic work with the Pan Africa Project. Mr. Mandell was a fantastic clinician and single handedly kept the Roxborough/Jamaica Plain free Acupuncture clinic going in Boston, MA. No place prepared me better for some of the more interesting disorders to treat and to make good, but speedy decisions and juggle 3-4 patients per hour.